


NORAD Santa Tracker

by mander3_swish



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:49:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21949927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mander3_swish/pseuds/mander3_swish
Summary: Alex is stationed at NORAD headquarters to gather some UFO intel, and he volunteers to answer NORAD tracks Santa calls on Christmas Eve.
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 12
Kudos: 63





	NORAD Santa Tracker

**Author's Note:**

> written on mobile and not beta read. my apologies!

Alex reupped his service in the Air Force on the condition he would be stationed at NORAD headquarters in Colorado Springs. The distance from Roswell wasn't ideal, but he'd make it work. He'd keep trying with Michael as long he could get him to understand this was the opposite of him walking away.

His covert mission was to see if could access the archival data for any other credible alien spacecraft entering North American airspace. They had found some vague references that the 1947 Roswell incident wasn't isolated, that there might actually be other aliens out there. Whether they were also Antarian was never confirmed, but it still gave everyone hope that maybe, just maybe there were more answers out there.

The other reason that Alex was actually really interested in this posting was that he was a secret NORAD tracks Santa nerd. Every Christmas he could remember as a kid involved him tracking Santa's Christmas Eve path, even after he stopped believing Santa was real. He never told anyone about this obsession, but in the early days he and Kyle had talked about it for days leading up until the big night.

So he was one of the first to sign up to volunteer Christmas Eve, manning the phones for all the calls that would be coming in.

Alex accepted the next call in his queue, "Captain Manes speaking, how may I assist you?"

"Uh hi?" Alex could hear a tentative muffled voice on the other end of the call.

"Hello. How can I help?" Alex tried again.

The child on the other end of the line began to ramble excitedly. "I really want to know how far away Santa is. Michael says I have to go to bed or else Santa won't bring any presents, but I want to stay up and give him the cookies we made."

Michael? That had to be a coincidence, Alex thought.

"Well, I'll do my best to help you out. Can you please tell me your name and location? Then I can check our tracker and give you an ETA."

"Joey. And I live in Roswell, New Mexico at the Chaves County group home for kids."

What are the odds?

"Okay Joey, let me just pull up that information for you. …..

…. Alright, our analysts are estimating that Santa should be making his rounds in New Mexico in approximately three hours."

"Yes!" Joey shouted in obvious excitement. Alex heard a muffled 'noooo, you need to go to bed now or Lynn will have my head' in the background of the call before it clicked off and the line went dead.

Alex was pretty sure that had been his Michael in the background of the call, but he hadn't mentioned anything that morning when they spoke about Alex's plan for the night. He thought Michael was spending the evening with Max and Isobel. Was he really volunteering at the group home on Christmas Eve? Alex could feel a prickle in his eye as he tried to hold back the tears that had formed, thinking about all the lonely Christmases Michael must have had as a kid.

He quickly took a few deep breaths and shook himself before picking up the next call.

After about another 45 minutes, he heard that very familiar voice on the end of the line again, but not in the background this time.

"Michael, is that you?"

"Sure is Private," he drawled. "Finally got through to your line. Tried around 30 times."

"Captain," Alex replied, his voice mixed as it was both endearing and a little annoying when Michael called him that. "And you could have just called my cell after my shift at ends at midnight."

"Oh Captain, my Captain. But where's the fun in that?"

"I think you've been hanging out with Max too much," Alex said, his tone more fond this time. "Do you have another kid wondering about Santa, or…"

"No I just wanted to hear your voice again. I miss you, Alex."

"I miss you too, but you're still coming to visit on the weekend, right? Then we can, you know…" Alex hoped Michael understood he was hinting at the data download he was currently doing, and that they could comb through any UFO references to look for credible intel. They really shouldn't be talking at all on a military related unsecured line about their extracurricular activities, alien or not.

"We certainly have some catching up to do," Michael replied.

"Yes, and you can fill me in on all these kids you've been hanging out with. Is this something you do regularly? How long has this been going on?"

"Don't you need to get back to your calls?" Michael deflected.

"I do. I'm getting an impatient glare from the operations manager, but that doesn't mean you're off the hook," Alex said. He tried to make his voice sound serious but joking at the same time. He was happy that Michael was able to give back and maybe be a positive adult influence in those kids' lives, or at least for one night of the year.

"Well, if you talk to Santa, tell him I'd be happy to give his sled a tune up," Michael joked.

Alex had to laugh. "Definitely will. Merry Christmas Michael," he said, his voice wobbly, really wishing he was back in Roswell.

"Merry Christmas Alex," Michael whispered back, before ending the call.


End file.
